During the past week, we have been placing the stakes into the ground for the tomato vines to climb on as they grow. As you can see, the plants are loving that white plastic and growing faster than weeds! (Notice in the second picture how much the plants have grown already compared to the prior pictures from a week or so ago.) The tomato stakes are now all in place and standing tall. This may look easy, but pressure hammering each individual stake into the ground is truly hard work. 

Fortunately, we finished staking this field just before that big storm rolled in. Perfect!

We are back in season for our fall crop and all the seedling plants are looking healthy and strong. This is such a delicate time for the immature plants. They are very vulnerable to moisture, temperature, and pests at this stage. Fortunately, we have spent much time and effort and have prepared the fields in anticipation of this fall crop. Here in Florida, we have had an unseasonably hot summer, so we are testing a new white plastic for bed coverage. Hopefully, this will decrease some of the heat absorbed by the ground and plants and will allow the seedlings to grow more rapidly instead of diverting energy into simply surviving day to day in the high temperatures. I will keep you posted and updated as to how the experiment is progressing and as to the outcome of the actual plants growth. This should be interesting when compared to last fall's crop and how abundant, crisp, and flavorful those sweet grape tomato plants produced!

It's that time again and our grape tomatoes are full, ripe and ready for picking! We have been watching the tomatoes ripen and mature for weeks now in anticipation. Once again, they are sweet, full of juice, and pop when you bite into them....perfect. 
If you didn't get to try them last season, then I urge you to not miss out this time. Check out our recipe "Tomato Taste" page and see how they can be used in so many different ways. Then, be creative, have fun, and try your own variations. Who knows, you may be making new recipes for the rest of us to try!

Well, it was a long growing season for the past crop and we continued to harvest well into the middle of February. After a short break, we prepared the fields for the next crop and the plants are already in the ground and growing! I always enjoy this time of watching the delicate seedlings putting on new leaves, growing taller, and stronger each day. There is just something beautiful about being in the middle of a field of young tomato plants, with the sun shining on them, and the wind gently blowing their leaves...

We are very busy with harvesting our tomatoes these days. We have been in the fields picking and packing from daylight to dark for the past couple of weeks. The tomato plants are overflowing with bright red, beautiful fruit. At this time of Thanksgiving, we are reminded of how fortunate we are to have such an overflowing abundance of grape tomatoes and how blessed we truly are to be able to share them with others. We at 3rd Day Growers want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family all the very best this holiday season and thank you for your support and encouragement. Happy Thanksgiving! 

​Left over Turkey is great for sandwiches, noodle soup, tetrazzini, and so many other recipes. This Chicken Salad Sandwich with grape tomatoes is excellent, easy, and, like so many other dishes where chicken is called for, just as good with left over turkey instead of chicken. Try it, you just might like it!

Today we are seeing the first grape tomatoes beginning to ripen! This is an exciting time for us here on the farm, as we have worked and prayed while patiently awaiting the growing process over the past several months. We have been blessed with great weather (warm and dry) the past several weeks which has allowed the fruit on the grape tomato plants to set and develop. A steady, slow growth makes for sweeter grapes because the grape tomatoes have a longer time on the vine to ripen naturally without any artificial boosters or enhancers. The taste and texture of these tomatoes is set to be perfect fresh off the vine. 
Soon, our real work will begin as we hand pick each and every grape tomato and prepare them for market. Whatever you do, don't miss out on this crop of grape tomatoes. Perfect growing conditions don't come along every year and like a fine wine, we are certainly having a good year!  

As the weeks go by, the tomato plants are maturing nicely and we now are seeing lots of baby fruit on the vines. They are so tiny in the beginning, smaller than a pencil point, but soon will be as large as a thumb nail and full of sweet, delicious flavor. As Halloween approaches and candy is everywhere, I can't help but think of how much healthier and tastier these snack size grape tomatoes are and wish I could give these out to trick-or-treaters as an alternative to candy bars.  I probably would get lots of funny looks from the kids! We should encourage our children to eat healthy snacks, such as a handful of naturally sweet grape tomatoes, in an effort to curb obesity and promote overall health and well being.  Get into the habit of choosing fruits and vegetables as snacks and set an example for your children....the rewards will be a real lifelong treat. Happy Halloween! 

Well, this is my first blog about the farm and our grape tomato produce. We have had a very rainy season here in Zolfo Springs, Florida and have had several set backs regarding planting our grape tomatoes. However, we now have the field full of seedlings and they are growing literally, "like weeds."  They are about two feet tall now and are starting to show some flowers and fruit set. Hooray! It won't be long before they are in full bloom and that means the real work begins! Stay tuned for updates on how the grape tomatoes are growing and when it will be time to begin harvesting. 

Those lovely rain showers I told you about.